The Chase
by mennis
Summary: Captain Jack Sparrow aquires a new crew that consists of Marie Davis and himself. Marie Davis is a spunky pirate that won't let anyone get in her way, but what will happen when she discovers that she has feelings for her captain? What is she going to do?
1. Chapter 1

The open sea was staring back at her and her eyes seemed to reflect the blues and hints of green that glimmered on the surface of the water. Her face was tanned from endless days on her ship, and her knee length coat was a dark crimson with black edging, and silver buttons that traveled down her front. The shirt that she donned underneath was tattered and faded just as much as her pants. Her love had always been with the ocean and she always wanted to test its waters. Never afraid of anything that came her way, panic never overcame her, her mind seemed to be the most rational when panic and fear struck most people. Her attitude was a mixture of calm, demanding, and humorous, and that was what made her the best captain that her crew had ever seen.

Marie turned around and walked over to the ships wheel, her black weathered boots clunking every step of the way, and checked her compass and map. They were heading too far East; her aim was the islands just south of the American Colonies. She turned the wheel a bit and let _La Belle Morte_ sail toward the horizon. The wind blew her shoulder length black hair back and her fingers drifted to her belt, where she kept her own personal arsenal. One sword, that she handcrafted herself, was hanging on her left side, which gave her right hand easy access. Three daggers were stashed in different places, two of them were on the left side of her belt and one of them was strapped to her calf. That knife was never used, because she never needed it. That was only used if she had no other weaponry. If her sword and first two daggers were gone and her two pistols had run out of ammunition. Marie had fashioned herself a harness that would carry her guns on the sides of her chest, it was virtual invisible, for it was attached to the inside of her jacket. If she ever needed to take off the jacket during a fight she could grab the guns and put them in their other designated places on her belt. Over her shoulder and across her chest she carried a pouch full of black powder, and a pouch full of spherical bullets/

She stared out at her ship and watched her small crew keep up the life of its wooden decks. Its cannons were not the best but they had brought down ships twice their size with them. It was a loss, since the possessions went down with the ship, but she felt proud nonetheless. The crew was made up of four men and though she tried many times to bring another woman aboard, they just never seemed up to the task. They would get homesick and complain about how they didn't think there would be this many days at sea. It utterly baffled Marie because she couldn't think of anything more satisfying than being in open water.

She jumped down onto the lower deck and said, "C'mon! We got to keep up our strength! Tomorrow we arrive at the islands." Marie walked into the ship and felt a rush cool air. It was always a little cooler below because the water that slapped against the sides of the ship cooled down the wood. Marie sat on one end of the table while the men conversed with each other at the other end. She always knew not to talk with her crew too much because she didn't want them to see her as a woman. She wanted them to see and respect her as Captain Davis. She ate her share of chicken and fourth orange for the day, and then went back out. She just couldn't keep away from the deck. The sea breeze tickled her nose and she could smell the salt in the air, but there was something else there. Something that she could never describe, but knew what it meant. Out on the horizon she saw exactly what she expected, a dark shadow moving steadily toward her with flashes of light coming out of it.

Marie ran down back to the crew and exclaimed, "Drop your food! There's a storm coming from the West. Get on deck, men!" They jumped from their seats and ran from the table onto the deck.

Their faces changed to something between worry and fright. Bailey turned around and looked at her. "But, Captain. That storm is huge; we'll be torn to bits if we sail through it. Can't we go around it somehow?"

Marie stared out into the ominous clouds and said, "_La Belle Morte_ can handle it. Besides, if we go around we'll lose another day, we can't afford that right now." She ran up to the wheel and faced the storm with that funny little twinge of a smile that made her crew members question her sanity. "Get into your positions. We're taking the waves in stride!" She flipped open her compass and saw it spinning around as if not sure what to do, she knew where she was going though. Even though her conscience was yelling at her from inside her head she ignored it. The clouds were now swirling about ten feet from the bow of the ship and her hands gripped the wheel with white knuckles.

The first wave she saw coming and spun the wheel as fast as she could. _La Belle Morte_ leaned right and took the wave with the only the courage that small ships seem to have. The second wave crashed onto the deck with brute force and Marie heard her wood scream in agony. _La Belle Morte_ was putting up one hell of a fight. She swayed with the direction of the next wave but her wood was splintering. Marie said the only thing that she could think of and never thought that she would ever have to say. "Abandon ship! Get into the boat!" She saw Bailey, Reed, Lee, and Fitzgerald dropped their ropes and run to the boat as another wave crashed on the ship and they felt it jerk downward a couple feet. It made her stumble a little bit but Marie kept her feet and didn't move an inch toward the boat that she gave her crew permission to get into. They didn't try to make her come with them either, because they understood.

Marie was going with her ship she was going to go with _La Belle Morte_ because that was how a captain should go. Never in battle or in prison, it was honorable to die with the sea, and that was the only way she wanted to die. But as she heard the thunder in her ears she felt that she would still go down with the ship, but if she could get out of it alone she would try. She would let the men get away on the easy path, but the challenge was for her.

Marie grabbed the wheel once more and spun it left and smiled with an insane look on her face. Her clothes were three times heavier than they once were but that didn't stop her. She didn't bother with the masts because the one thing that she could control was the wheel, and that was what was going to save her life if nothing else did. Wave after wave her hands flew over the ships wheel and she rode the sea's rage and wrath with ease. A good 50 feet away Marie saw the water much calmer. The storm was still happening but with less fiery energy. She stared at that shred of hope while she steered _La Belle Morte_ to safety. Once on those slightly calmer waters she saw land. _Oh thank God!_ , Was all that went through her head.

Marie steered toward the deck and jumped off the edge of her ship and onto the wooden planks jutting out from the land. She turned her body around to look at _La_ _Belle_ _Morte_ as she went to her watery grave. Marie's hand went to her heart as she said a short good bye and a prayer to her only tie to the sea. The sad ship had lasted long enough to give its captain a second chance at life. The one tear on her cheek was indistinguishable from the rain falling on her face. She turned and walked toward land with a different air about her. Marie kicked up mud as she looked for a place to stay. Her eyes found a sign hanging above her head that read, "Tortuga Tavern."


	2. Chapter 2

Her lungs were burning until she let out a cough and felt water flow up her trachea and out of her mouth

_Tortuga!_ This had to be the worst place to be stranded without a boat. Everywhere you would turn there was a hooker on a street corner, and unmentionable litter scattered around your feet. Marie desperately wanted to get out of the rain, so she buttoned up her coat over her sopping wet white shirt, and opened the door to the pub.

Her feet dragged herself over to the bar; while she was there she might as well get a drink She fished through her coat pocket and her hand came out with three schillings. "One glass of mead." She told the bartender. The man grunted and handed her a beer mug filled to the brim with mead. She walked her way over to a small, secluded corner with an empty table.

A hand landing on her shoulder suddenly stopped her. "Where you going, pretty lady?" Marie turned around and came face to face with the ugliest, and most foul smelling man, she had ever laid eyes on. He had a full-faced beard with bits of god-knows-what stuck in it. He had one lazy eye that looked down at the floor while the other stared right at me. His facial expression was practically unreadable, because of all the dirt that was on it.

"I'm going to my table. Now, if you take your hand off me I'd actually get there." She turned on her heel, but didn't get one step closer to the table, because the man grabbed her shoulder once more and dug his nails down into her flesh. He spun her around to face him and Marie had to bite her tongue as not to yell out in pain.

"No woman, talks to me like that!" he lifted his free hand and struck me across the face while digging his nails deeper into her shoulder. She dropped the mead and the mug clattered to the floor, while the mead splattered over my feet. He lifted his hand for another strike, but I got to my pistol first and aimed it at his chest with the hammer already back.

While his hand was in the air someone caught his wrist and twisted it downward. Light sarcasm came out of this person's mouth, "That's no way to treat a lady, now is it, Paul?" The man let go of Paul's wrist once he saw the gun pointed right at his chest. "Ah, but it looks like she can take care of herself." Marie glanced to her right where she heard the man's voice. He spoke with what seemed to be a light slur. He had long, black dreadlocks that were kept out of his face by the use of a long red scarf. Two dreadlocks in the front were donned with beads. On top of his head he wore a three cornered hat that looked like it had gone through everything. He had a moustache and a long beard that he braided into two tiny braids decorated with more beads. His skin was tanned and blotched from prolonged hours in the sun, like hers. He carried two pistols and a sword in his belt, along with many other things.

Marie turned her gaze back to the bag of filth standing in front of her and leaned forward to take his one pistol and bag of powder and bullets. She put away the gun in the extra holsters on her belt and stuffed the bag into her coat pocket. She looked up and said, "Just a couple more things." Marie took a step toward the man named Paul and raised her knee between his legs. He released his grip on her shoulder and fell to the ground. She grabbed his arm and dragged his body out the door, and dropped it in the rain. "Didn't your mother ever tell you never to hit a girl?" She kicked him once more for good measure and went back into the tavern.

The man that tried to help just says, "Nicely done. Why don't you come sit with me and I'll buy you another drink." Marie followed him to his table, which happened to be the one that she meant to sit at before, and he went off to the bar. He came back with two bottles of rum and handed one to her. "So, what's your name?"

"Marie Davis. Captain of her own ship until half an hour ago"

"What happened?"

"Well, that storm that passed through this place, had gone out into the ocean. I couldn't go around it because it was huge, so I went through it." Marie said.

"You survived that?" he asked in utter shock.

"Just barely, I sent my crew in the long boat and I stayed with the ship. My ship was cracking and creaking with each massive wave. I finally got through it and onto the port. But _La belle Morte_ was sinking and I stayed there and watched her go down." Marie sighed and thought of something she hadn't before. She had chosen her own life over her ship's death. She felt like the worst captain in the world. Her face showed no emotion, and she quickly made up for the silence by taking a swig of rum. "What's your name?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow." He said. He looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "You do know who I am, don't you?"

"Oh, yes. If I didn't know who you were, you would find me asking you questions like, 'Did you really do that?' or 'How was it that you got away from that island and out of Davy Jones' locker?' I've heard the stories and that's good enough for me."

Marie took another swig of rum and leaned back, against the chair looking at Jack. His face showed curiosity. "It's surprising how well you handle yourself, and how you can use a pistol so well." He said

"Oh I see! This is because I'm a girl, isn't it? If you think that because I'm a woman I am prissy, proper and can't lift my own finger, then you've got another thing coming!" She huffed. He grew silent and watched her take out a dagger and toss it at the table. The knife would stick and she would pull it out with ease. She threw the knife again and again. After a good five minutes she thought of what she just did and started to laugh. Again Jack's eyebrow went up as he stared at her. "Look at me. Less than an hour without a ship and I'm already losing my mind. God, I miss the sea. I'm sorry about that, I really didn't mean to yell." She looked at his face and it never changed, but something told her that he was going to say something important.

"Well, Marie Davis." He looked into her eyes. "How would you like to be part of my crew?"

"When do I start?" She said

"Tomorrow, morning." He said. "We're staying here, for the night. I'm only paying for one room, though. So either sleep in the same room as me or get your own room. Assuming you lost all of your money on your ship, you'll be staying with me." She nodded in agreement, and drank a silent toast to the sea. The last drop fell on her tongue and she put the empty bottle on the table next to his bottle "And you can drink! Always a good quality in a pirate."

They sat there talking about the ocean and other odds and ends, and he got up and said, "Gotta wake up early." She followed him to the back where there were doors with ascending numbers on them. He stopped at number nine and pushed open the door. They walked into a room with cracked walls, a chamber pot, one bed and a three-foot hole in the ceiling. However the floor was clean. Well, not exactly clean, there was a small layer of dust on the floor, but no mold or dead rats or anything.

"Not half bad. At least it's not raining anymore." She said, sitting on the floor. Her fingers undid her belt and laid it down on the floor along with her sword, and then she set her ammunition right next to it. She reached through her coat and under her arms to pull out her pistols and put them on the floor as well. Always last but never least she undid the dagger on her calf.

Jack stared at her once more while she expertly paced her weapons in easily reachable places. After she was done she sat underneath the hole and looked up at it. The stars were always the best at sea but she figured this would do for now. "You sure you want to sleep on the floor?" He questioned.

Still staring up at the stars she responded. "Yes I'm sure. You're the captain and should have the best of everything. Besides, I like the view." She took off her damp coat, and thanked the heavens that her shirt wasn't as wet as when she first came. She felt a breeze coming through the window and involuntarily shivered. She'd had colder nights. Marie laid her head down and said a small " 'Night." and fell to sleep with the cold breeze blowing on her arms and face.


	3. Chapter 3

Her lungs were burning until she let out a cough and felt water flow up her trachea and out of her mouth

Marie woke up with the dawn and stretched on the floor. A yawn escaped her mouth and as she sat up something fell to her lap. It was a coat that looked very much like her own, except that it was completely black. Her coat was still hanging on the doorknob where she put it last night. She looked over to the bed and saw her captain sleeping soundlessly without a coat. She wasn't sure what to make of it but he looked cold, so she took of his coat and draped it over his body. It seemed that he had fallen asleep while tugging at the braids on his chin, which amused her highly. It was like a baby sleeping with a thumb in his mouth.

She walked over to her weapons and started to put them on one by one. Marie then grabbed a once white handkerchief and tied her hair back while a few thick strands of hair fell down and tickled her face. She sat on the floor and drew swirls in the dust, while waiting for Jack to wake. Suddenly she felt pressure growing in her bladder. She glanced at the bed and Jack was still sleeping as he was before, so she crept over to the small chamber pot and pulled down her pants. On the chamber pot she was staring at the corner of the wall while a tinkling sound filled the room. When it stopped she looked around for something to wipe with and found nothing. She sighed and pulled up her pants in disgust.

When she turned around her captain was staring at her with a smirk on his face. Her cheeks grew hot, and she felt truly embarrassed. "How long were you watching?" Marie demanded.

"Ever since you turned around to place your lovely bottom on the pot." She wanted to smack that smile off his face.

"You bastard! You're lucky that you're my captain, or else you'll end up like your friend, Paul. Bloody hell!"

"Can't help it, love." He still smiled at her. "Well, gotta get going." He got up and acted like he didn't know that he had just massively pissed her off. He smacked his hat onto his head and started toward the door. Marie grabbed her dry coat and reluctantly followed him out of the tavern.

Once outside he went to the left, past the port, and through a scattering of trees. After a good ten minutes he stopped at a massive ship with black sails. Marie jumped onto the ship's deck and smiled at the familiar sound of wood against boot, and the wonderful sound of waves crashing onto themselves. The ship was three times bigger than what she was used to, and she loved it all the same. It was absolutely thrilling to know that below her feet was crystal clear salt water. Jack and Marie got _The Black Pearl_ out of her little alcove and started off toward the horizon.

"So where's the rest of the crew?" she asked. Marie was still furious with him but was curious at the same time.

"You're looking at it. The captain counts as a crew member." She started to speak but he answered her question before she asked it. "My crew left. They thought that my voyages were too dangerous. I mean really, one trip to Davy Jones' locker and that was it for them." He jumped down from where the steering wheel was. "And that is why I chose you Marie. You didn't look the smallest bit scared when old Paul smacked you across your face. And not many women, or men in that case, could steer a ship out of a storm as big as that one all by their selves." He stood at the edge of the ship and looked out across the water, "Not only that, but you have a love for the sea; that's what makes a real pirate." Marie had a feeling that he didn't talk like this to most people, or anyone for that matter.

"You only just met me yesterday. How do you know I won't make you a eunuch and claim myself as captain?" He looked at her in horror, and she just laughed. "I was joking. Well, before I wanted to make you eunuch, but that thought is dwindling."

He nervously laughed and then quickly changed the subject. "_La Belle Morte_, that's French isn't it?"

She walked over to stand next to him, and rested her forearm against the side of the deck. "Yup. It's means _The Beautiful Death_. To die at sea would be a beautiful death, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it would." His gaze never left the water. His brown eyes had hints of blue and green in them and for a moment Marie wasn't sure if it was the ocean's reflection or the pigment of his eyes. He turned away and went up to the steering wheel and opened up his compass. He spun around and then landed with his body facing Marie. He looked up and pointed at the horizon behind her. "That way. That is our destination."

He had a funny way of choosing which direction to go in, but he was the captain. Marie opened up another sail while Jack turned the wheel, and in moments they were heading for a destination unknown to both of them.

She had swabbed the deck, checked on how much food they had, and finished with all of the chores for the time being. Judging on the sun's position she guessed that it was about 2:00. She went inside the ship and went over to a bucket of water and briefly rinsed off her face. She grabbed two oranges and went over to the Captain's quarters and knocked on the door. "Come in." She opened up the door on its creaky hinges and stepped inside. He was looking over some maps with X's and circles on them, and others of small islands, and their different waters. "Need anything?"

"Catch!" She tossed him the orange and he caught it without looking up from his desk.

He muttered a "Thanks." And went on looking at his maps like she wasn't even there. She tiptoed out of the room and went into the kitchen. She rifled through the barrels and bags, and came out with meat of some sort, onions, and what do you know, oranges. As Marie was not the captain anymore she was going to control the meals. She walked outside and used a bucket to get some seaweed floating on top of the water. Back in the kitchen she seared the onions in the pan and rubbed orange juice all over the meat before placing it in the pan. While that was on the stove she dipped the seaweed in some rum and put them in the pan for a few seconds to burn off the alcohol. Then she grabbed the two of the cleanest plates that she saw and put the food in it with half an orange on the side.

She knocked once more and waited for a reply. "Yup." She didn't walk entirely in the room; she just stood in the doorway. "What, now?" He sounded frustrated, like he'd been working on the same thing all day without any luck.

"I made food. Do you want any?" She asked. He sat there and thought; he seemed to be torn between filling his stomach and staying at his desk. "I could bring it in here if you want."

"That sounds good." He turned his head back toward his work. Marie went to the kitchen and came back with his plate in her hands. She placed it in front of him, and he looked at it in slight awe.

"I'm going to be eating on the deck. If you need me, just yell."

On the poop deck she sat down and started to eat her food. She did pretty well for not cooking in five years. She kicked off her boots and stretched out her toes, feeling the breeze of the ocean cool them off. The sun was setting and the sky was a mixture of orange and pink. It reflected onto the boat and made it almost glow. When she was done eating she washed her plate and went back outside, and saw something on the horizon. It wasn't a storm, she knew that much. She retrieved a telescope from her coat and put it up to her eye and nearly dropped it once she saw what she was looking at.


	4. Chapter 4

Her lungs were burning until she let out a cough and felt water flow up her trachea and out of her mouth

Marie immediately ran inside and burst into Jack's room. "Captain! There's a boat on the water. I'm pretty sure it's a Navy Frigate." Jack ran out of the room and onto the deck and saw the navy on the horizon. The words out of his mouth were some of the most colorful language that she has ever heard. "Their still so far away, maybe they haven't seen us yet." Right after the words came out of her mouth she knew how stupid it sounded.

"We're gonna have to fight. Get the cannons ready!" And she did, and he helped a little bit too, by the time they were done with the cannons, the Navy's boat was quite a bit closer, and they realized that it wasn't as big as they first thought. Actually it was small, and with a look through her telescope she realized that there were only about eight people running it. After waiting a couple minutes for the ship to come closer she pulled out her pistol and aimed for a person standing at the wheel. Marie's finger was about to pull the trigger when her captain grabbed her arm and tried to pull down the gun. "What the bloody hell are you doing! You're going to miss and we're going to get killed! Not a good idea!" He wouldn't stop grabbing her arm so she gave him a good punch in the stomach. Jack backed up and fell onto the floor with the wind knocked out of him. She took aim again at the ship and fired. She saw the person at the wheel drop to the floor and with her other gun she aimed once more, this time for a person swabbing the deck. She fired again and he dropped onto the floor in a similar lifeless way. The other six people started to panic and run around. One of them grabbed a gun and tried to aim for Marie but missed the entire ship. In a matter of minutes there was only one person on The Frigate's deck and the ship was a lot closer. She loaded her pistol and aimed for him and when she pulled the trigger her footing was lost. She looked up and saw that she had just grazed his ear. The look on his face was murderous. She quickly fired again without aim and shot him in the chest.

Marie turned around and looked at Jack lying on the ground clutching his stomach. "Oh c'mon! You asked for it. Now, get up and let's get some stuff off of their ship." She ran to the other side of the ship and came back with three boarding hooks. Jack was still on the ground with his hand on his stomach, and that made Marie huff loudly, "I'll do it myself, and if you're really hurt I'll look at it later." She ignored his gasping and tossed the hook over to the small version of a Frigate and pulled the ship closer. It took her longer than it normally would have because she was the only one pulling it. She used the other two hooks to attach the boat to _The Black Pearl_.

After exploring the ship for ten minutes she came back with a bag of gold, and what looked like medicines. She dropped them on _The Pearl's_ deck and knelt beside her captain. "I couldn't have hurt you that bad. Oh!" She unbuttoned his coat and saw his shirt stained with blood. Underneath his shirt were four long and deep gashes on top of a large purple spot. She looked back at her hand and saw that her rings were covered in his blood. She felt terrible and she didn't know what to say. Sorry definitely wasn't good enough. Marie grabbed his arm and tossed it over her shoulder. He wasn't _too_ heavy and she was just able to carry him to his bedroom. She placed him onto the red sheets and tried to gently sit him upright. With each wince that came from his mouth she felt a tremendous pound of guilt sweep across her. She went to the side of the room where there was a bucket of fresh water. She then took the handkerchief from her hair and soaked it in the water. After ringing it out Marie went back to the bed and lifted up his shirt once more to rinse off the blood. Her touch was gentle as she wiped the bruise and rinsed off the gashes. She grabbed a dry handkerchief from her pocket and got the excess water off of the wound. Marie avoided his eyes as she went out of the room.

She found fabric in a burlap sack and came back with an exceptionally large piece. She set it on the end of the bed and turned to him, "I'm gonna have to take off your coat and shirt so that I can wrap up…what I did."

He nodded and said, "Alright." with a funny sound in his voice. He was smiling. No, it was more of a smirk. The same smirk that she saw just earlier that morning. She ignored it as he leaned forward for her. The coat was easy to take off, and was hung on the edge of the headboard. Next came the shirt. She slipped her hand underneath his shirt to keep him from falling backward. When she touched his skin she felt him give an involuntary shudder. Jack lifted his arms so that she could slip the shirt off with her other hand. She leaned him back against the headboard and tossed his shirt to one side. She'd make him another one. It wouldn't be as good, but at least he'd have a new one.

Marie dampened her handkerchief again and hung it over the side of the bucket. Jack watched her walk across the room and open up the drawers of a small dresser. After each drawer was opened she'd look inside and shut it, by the third drawer she was slamming the drawers shut. "What are you looking for?" he asked.

"Rum."

"There's a small bottle underneath my pillow. But I don't think that'd be enough for both of us." He said.

"It's not for me." She reached under his pillow and retrieved a small flask. She popped the cork and smelled it for alcohol content. It was strong enough. Marie grabbed the handkerchief, sat on the left side of Jack and poured a splash of rum onto his wound. He winced and let out a small sound of pain. The alcohol cleaned out the wound and then she rinsed it off with the wet handkerchief. After drying up the water with the dry handkerchief she grabbed the long piece of fabric. She then put her hand on his back and he shuddered again. Her hand must've been cold. She sat him upright again and started wrapping him from his side, across his back and over his stomach. The fabric ended where it started and she held it there while she reached in her pocket for a pin. Instead she came up with a few pieces of wire. When you're a pirate and someone's life is on the line, you use what you have. She poked the wire through all four layers of fabric, and then back through. Marie tied the wire and did the same with the other pieces.

"Is that at all uncomfortable?" Marie asked. Jack shook his head and she helped him lay back down and pulled the covers up on his shoulders. Her hand gripped the doorknob and before she left she said, "Don't be afraid to scream your bloody head off if you need me." At that she went out the door to her little cabin.

What was it about her that interested Jack so much and pissed him off at the same time? She was a pirate, an actual pirate. She knew what to do with the limited things on the ship. She even drank like a pirate. She took out eight people while _The Black Pearl_ was 60 feet from her target. Not one miss, if she didn't stumble. It was even more bizarre that Marie punched him; he never had someone disobey any of his orders. She was going to have to treat him with more respect. He saw her avoid his eyes as she dressed his wound, but what about when she touched his back. What made him shake like that? That was the first time that the mere touch of a hand on his back made him shudder. He gave up on trying to understand and Jack slowly fell asleep with the gentle rocking of the sea.


	5. Chapter 5

Her lungs were burning until she let out a cough and felt water flow up her trachea and out of her mouth

He woke up because of a knock at the door. "Come in," Jack said in a tired voice.

Marie came in and said, "I have to change your dressings." So, Jack sat up and winced. The wound hurt, but not as much as it did the day before. Then it felt like his entire body was on fire. She untied the wires and put them on the bedside table. He watched her as she took off his makeshift bandage and saw her face turn as she looked at his stomach. He looked down and saw that the bruise had yellowed and the gashes were indeed healing. She had done a good job cleaning it out. Marie took the rum from under his pillow and cleaned him up just as she did before. After tying the wires around the fabric she got up off the empty side of the bed and went around to his side. "Do you need help standing?"

"No." Jack went to stand and fell back onto the bed. He never realized how much he used the muscles in his abdomen. It hurt so much to even sit up, he felt ashamed because he was supposed to be the strong captain. It didn't seem to faze Marie she just took his arm put it over her shoulders, and put her hand gently around his waist. He couldn't help smirking; it was part of his personality. Thankfully she didn't notice his reaction. She slowly stood up and he gained his footing.

"There. Now go out onto the deck while I make some eggs." He did as she asked and slowly made his way outside. Once he was seated on one of the stairs to the poop deck he leaned back and relaxed. Jack looked around to see that the Frigate was no longer attached to the ship, and that the deck was already swabbed. In fact everything was done and clean, which caused him to notice something in his peripheral vision. There was something on the floor. He didn't want to get up so he grabbed a broom and held it out at arms length. The end of the broom caught onto the mass of white fabric, and Jack brought it toward him. He grabbed it and shook it out. It was a shirt, almost exactly like the one that he had on yesterday. It was cleaner, and hand sewn, but it was basically his shirt.

"That was supposed to be a surprise, but I left it out, didn't I?" Jack looked around to find Marie holding two plates of scrambled eggs. "Here you go." He took the plate from her hands and started to eat. For a pirate she could cook.

"Did you look at the sleeve of the shirt?" she stuffed a piece of egg into her mouth as she sat on a barrel of gunpowder.

Jack turned the shirt around and he saw a sparrow, the same sparrow that was tattooed onto his forearm. It seemed to be painted on with tar. "Brilliant." He whispered.

"I'm glad you like it. I figured that the least I could do was make you a new shirt." Marie said quietly.

"And you think that spending a half-hour, twice a day, cleaning me and changing my dressings isn't enough?"

"Well, of course it sounds stupid when you say it out loud. I felt really bad for what I said to you." She looked down at her plate as if to hide her face.

The conversation ended at an awkward silence, and Jack suddenly felt his bowels move. He went to get up and forgot about the pain that would come. Marie immediately helped him up as she did earlier and walked with him to the bow of the ship. Once they got to the hole that was designated for defecating, Jack hesitated. Why was he acting like this, he would have never thought twice if it were anyone else. "I was a captain to a crew of four men, I've seen it all before. I'm just here to help you up when you are done." Marie said. That did make him feel a little better, so he bared all and dropped his trousers. Once he was done, she helped him up, and he pulled up his dignity along with his pants.

Jack was determined not to act like that ever again; he had to act as a captain. So he walked over to the wheel and took out his compass. It spun around and pointed to the horizon behind Marie. After steering the ship in that direction he sat down on a tall barrel and his eyes traced the lines in the wood beneath his feet. He looked at a map and it looked like they were going toward the Atlantic Ocean. _That can't be right_, he thought. After checking the map three times over he made a U-turn and made his way towards Jamaica. The ship swayed with centrifugal force and knocked Marie off her feet.

"What are you doing?" She got up and rubbed her hip.

"New course. We're going to Jamaica." Jack replied. He was able to get up on his own because the barrel was extra tall, it still hurt, just not the same intense pain. Jack's boot's clunked against the floorboard as he went down into the ship, and into his bedroom. He drained the last of his flask of rum and went back on deck to find Marie sitting on the wooden hole that he had sat on just moments before. He smirked once more and grabbed a mop to start swabbing the deck.

Suddenly Marie was at his side pulling the mop out of his hands. "Oh no you don't. I don't want your stomach breaking open again. I'll do it." He stood there staring at her in confusion. What did she think was going to happen? He was perfectly capable of taking care of his own ship. "And don't think that I didn't notice you while I was doing my business." She spoke as she moved the mop back and forth, "If you've had a woman on your crew before you shouldn't be so bloody surprised." Her voice held a touch of anger mixed with slight amusement. Jack stared at her for a few seconds while she swabbed the deck, and then went to the kitchen to get an orange. He sat down and peeled the orange while pondering his compass. What had caused it to do that? He never wanted to go out to sea and the compass was supposed to point to his greatest desire. He hoped with all his might that Calypso had returned to her human form. He was done with his orange and was about to call for Marie's help, but stopped. He was a captain, and surely didn't need anyone's help to get out of a chair. He got his hands ready on the edge of the table and went to lift his weight off of his butt and onto his feet. The second he got up he felt his skin rip. He fell back and missed the chair. Jack landed on the floor with a loud thud.


	6. Chapter 6

Her lungs were burning until she let out a cough and felt water flow up her trachea and out of her mouth

Marie came to the door and saw him lying on the floor. "God, you're a pain in the ass! Would you stop being so damn proud!" She lifted him up and hauled him to his bed for the second time. Jack looked down and saw a red spot on his bandage growing larger and larger. Marie took off his bandage and immediately put a damp handkerchief on his stomach, all the while huffing and muttering curse words under her breath. There was no guilt showing now, just pure frustration. "You could have just called and I would have helped you, but no. You…you…just…" She let out a frustrated sound of nonsense that made Jack painfully laugh. "Don't you dare laugh. This isn't funny."

"It is to me." And it was. Marie's face had turned deep red in her frustration, and she looked like she was going to explode. She fixed him with a new bandage, and she was less careful about hurting him. She seemed to "accidentally" poke him with the wire many times.

"I'm not leaving this room all night. I can go without supper." Marie plopped her butt into a chair and put it right next to his side. It was obvious that she wanted him to stay in the bed, but he had enough of her bossing him around. "If you try to get up, I will chain you down." He looked into her eyes for the trace of a bluff. She wasn't kidding, she would honestly try to chain him to the bed.

"Well, someone's going to have to check if the ships still going to Jamaica."

"Nice try. My compass is broken and I already checked yours. It doesn't work either."

He gave up and leaned back against his pillows, and his mind went to another thought. If her compass didn't work, was it like his? He'd wait for her to fall asleep and then he'd slip it out of her pocket. He leaned over onto his side so that all she could see was his back, as he pretended to go to sleep.

Something was itching her side. What was it? Marie opened one eye and saw Jack leaning over a few inches with his arm outstretched and his hand in her coat pocket. "Oy!" Marie yelled as she instinctively pulled out a dagger and pointed it at his arm. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Well…um…I."

"You know what? Save it!" She slumped back into the chair and stared at him. "I don't even want to know what you were looking for." Marie got up and emptied her pockets onto a table across the room that was well out of Jack's reach. She saw Jack frown in defeat while she smiled with victory. She gave a small, "Ha ha!" and went back to her chair. She saw him roll onto his side and she was determined to make sure he was asleep before she even thought about blinking.

"You don't need to stare."

"If it bothers you then close your eyes. If I'm not mistaken that is how one goes to sleep." Marie replied.

"Now that leaves the question of how you are getting rest." He used his light sarcasm again and Marie just laughed.

"I have to be comfortable if I am to get to sleep, and I am not comfortable if you're awake and I'm not." She sat there watching him with his eyes closed and saw him subconsciously touch his braid again. She smiled and fell asleep looking into his calm face and wondering why she can't be angry with him for more than fifteen minutes.

She woke up as the sun was rising and saw that her possessions on the table were untouched. She quickly got up and made breakfast within ten minutes. Once back in Jack's room she set down the plates and started to wake him up. She lightly jostled his arm and received no reaction. She tried everything, but then a thought hit her. She grabbed a large bottle of rum that she had placed underneath the bed and loudly uncorked it. The oh-so familiar noise woke him up easier than she expected it to. Jack looked around and when he saw her with the bottle in her hands he simply said, "Rum! First thing in the morning too." He grabbed it and took a gulp.

"Hey! Save some for me." She took it from him and had a sip. Then she grabbed his plate and set it on his lap.

"I'm not taking my eyes off you for one second," Not that she wanted to. "We're eating in here." She then took her own plate and sat on top of the sheets as she ate.

"I see you're not as angry with me this morning." He grabbed the rum that she sat in between them and twirled the bottle in his hands, then looked at her and fluttered his eyelashes. "Is that because of my wonderful charm?"

_Yes._ "No!" Marie threw a piece of egg at him to make him stop fluttering the lashes that she never noticed were so long. When Jack was finished eating she helped him out of bed and stayed right behind him as he walked out onto the deck, but not before grabbing her things off of the table and putting them back into her pocket. From _The Black Pearl_ Marie could see the island of Jamaica and felt the ship turn slightly. _The Pearl_ was being steered around Jamaica. "So where exactly are we going?"

She turned around and Jack was jumping and banging his compass against the side of the wheel. "What? Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said where are we going?"

"Up river to see an old friend." He turned the ship towards a small opening in the tree that she knew _The Pearl _was not going to fit into. After it stopped Marie put down the anchor and followed Jack into the long boat.

The trip down the little canal was extremely creepy and gave Marie to shivers. She couldn't stop shaking, as they got closer to a house that seemed to be surrounded by people holding lanterns. She wasn't sure if they were real or not, but she wasn't about to jump out of the boat to find out. The boat floated to a ladder and Jack stepped onto it and slowly made his way onto the rickety porch. She didn't know what to do, but she knew that she didn't want to stay in the boat surrounded by a lake of water that was so eerily calm. She quickly tied off the boat and rushed inside of the little house.

Marie hit her head on something hanging from the ceiling. There was an assortment of objects crammed into the one small room. All of them were bizarre to say the least. Marie look at what she had hit her head on and found it to be a jar of eyeballs suspended in a yellow liquid. There were also little things like bird claws and bones of god knows what. Marie then felt something quickly scamper up her leg and onto her shoulder; it was a monkey. A spider monkey dressed in what looked to be clothes that resembled those of a pirate. He was pretty cute, but he didn't feel right. He felt as if he was carrying a disease, or something worse. Marie shivered at the eerie feeling that the creature gave her, and it jumped to the ground with a hiss. Across the room at a small wooden table Jack was walking towards a woman with similar dreadlocks to his own, but they were less tamed and stuck with feathers here and there. Her face was spotted with black dots on her dark skin and lips, and her eyes were very wide, giving her the look of surprise. Her dress was tattered and torn but went with her overall look, which for some reason looked oddly put together.

The woman smiled from ear to ear to show very blackened teeth. There was also a thick Jamaican accent to her voice, "Jack Sparrow! What brings you to me again? But, wait." She looked around the room and then back to Jack. "Where is the rest of your crew?"

"This is it. Now do I call you Calypso or Tia Dalma? Because it is very odd calling you Calypso."

"You may call me what you wish."

"Well then, Tia Dalma, would you mind telling me why my compass doesn't work? Again." Jack took out his compass and placed it in front of Tia Dalma. "It is not pointing to what I want. It was pointing away from the shallows, and I know that that is not what I want."

"This compass works perfectly. Maybe it is you that is broken." She gave him a quizzical look. "You say it pointed to the deeper sea, but maybe it wasn't only pointing toward that."

Jack returned the puzzled look and said, "So you're saying that it pointed to something that it wasn't pointing to and I didn't notice what it was pointing to because of what I thought it was pointing to, which would mean that I don't know what I want, which is a lie."

"Are you saying that his compass points to what he wants?" Marie said. Jack and Tia Dalma seemed to have forgotten she was there, because they both looked at her oddly.

Tia Dalma replied, "Yes, it does," She turned back to Jack, "And that is no lie. You know what you don't want but you do not know what you do want, even though it was practically under your nose for the past few days."

Jack looked at her and opened up his compass, once they had both looked at it Jack snapped it shut and persisted. "No, that's not true."

"Jack, Jack, Jack. Why do you resist when the answer is right in front of your eyes." Tia Dalma practically sang. She then looked at Marie once more and said, "Marie, hand me your compass." Marie took out the little box and handed it to her. Tia Dalma flipped it open, and gave Marie a stern look. "Where did you get this?"

"I found it buried in the dirt a little while before I found my ship, _La Belle Morte_." She responded. "Why?"

"It is the same compass as Jack's."


	7. Chapter 7

Her lungs were burning until she let out a cough and felt water flow up her trachea and out of her mouth

She handed the compass back and told her story. "Thirteen years ago there were two compasses found at the bottom of the ocean. These compasses held the power to tell the user what they wanted most of all in the world, but not many people knew that this compass held powerful magic. They would assume that it was broken. The man that found these compasses had decided that they were not useful, so he sold them. I bought one of them, because I knew what magic it possessed. Then when I met Jack Sparrow I gave it to him in hopes of helping him in his troubles at sea."

"But why didn't you buy both of them?" Marie asked

"Because when I bought it, there was only one being sold. The man had already sold the first." She looked at Jack while she told the rest of the story. "Now, these two compasses though once separated, are to be brought together again by two people who would live for each other and die for each other." Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Marie stared at Tia Dalma and said, "And you think that I would live and die for Jack. And that he would do the same for me. Ha!" Marie let out a laugh at the silliness of the situation. "I'm sorry but do you know what I did to his stomach."

"Bloody hell! This is absolutely ridiculous. Under no circumstances do I l-like anyone other than the sea." Jack exclaimed

"You will find out for yourselves that it is impossible for someone to know themselves that well. People's tastes change as the years come and go, and sometimes sooner." Tia Dalma then got up and walked toward the door as if some unassigned time had just run out. Marie walked out of the door and heard Jack's footsteps follow close behind. Night had fallen and there were more people holding candles around the edge of the river.

Neither of them spoke on their way back to _The Black Pearl_, Marie moved the oars back and forth and Jack just stared down at his feet with a blank, expressionless look on his face. Marie had respected his privacy by not asking what his compass had pointed to. It was too personal of a question. Once they arrived at _The Black Pearl_ they climbed up Jacob's ladder and onto the deck. The silence didn't cease when Jack pulled the ship out to sea, or when Marie tied the wire around Jack's bandages. Soon enough all that could be heard was the gentle slapping of water against the hull of the ship and the deep regulated breathing of sleep.

Marie woke up by practically falling out of her bed. She looked up and found Jack holding her sheets. He had ripped them out while she was sleeping. "You slept in." He threw the sheets onto her head. She groaned underneath the near suffocation of fabric, and hastily threw them off of her head. At least he was feeling better, and she didn't have to keep helping him up all of the time, but he was such a pain in the ass. She got up and went into the kitchen to make food only to find a bowl of soup sitting on the small stovetop.

Marie stepped onto the deck and sat next to Jack on the stairs. "I see you're feeling better." She hesitantly sipped her soup and smiled. "You must be feeling a lot better, this soup is pretty damn good." She tipped up the bowl a little more and quickly finished it off. "So do we have a heading?" Marie asked.

"Port Royal. We'll be able to stay the night and get supplies, and…stuff." He said. "We'll be there in a few hours, so…um…yeah." Something wasn't right about Jack. He wasn't himself. He had made breakfast, decided to go into a port when _The Pearl_ was fully stocked, and didn't even bother with any sarcastic remarks. As Jack got up and went to the wheel, Marie's fingers drifted into her pocket and felt the small box that now held so many secrets. She pulled it out and flipped it open. It spun around to the left and then to the right and finally rested in a final direction. She looked in the direction of the tiny arrow and saw Jack looking down at a map.

Jack had a plan and knew what he was going to do. They just had to get to Port Royal, and then it could go into action. He had to go through with it, he just had to. Jack walked down the stairs and into his quarters, so that he could have some time to think. He closed the door behind him and sat at his desk, thinking and going over the plan in his head, and something didn't seem right. So he did what any mentally healthy pirate would do. He started to talk to himself.

"What is wrong with this, Jack? It's not right." Jack lifted himself off of the chair with some difficulty and began pacing back and forth across his room. "First, you go into Port Royal and get some supplies, so that she won't suspect anything." He paced left. "Second, you rent two _separate_ rooms." He paced right. "And then you leave port before she wakes up." Left. "You know what you're doing, so why does something seem to be wrong?" Right "She has to go. She's too much trouble."

"I'm sorry that I'm too much trouble for you to handle." Said a very heated voice. Jack stopped in mid pace and saw Marie standing at the door. Her eyes were practically slits, and her fist was trembling. In the other hand she held an orange. "Here, I brought you an orange." She lifted her arm and threw the orange at him so hard that it splattered onto his forehead. Jack heard her feet stomping out of the room and to her cabin. Oh well, it didn't matter to him, he didn't care. This just made it a whole lot easier. Maybe he could find other crew members at Port Royal.

They arrived at port and Jack quickly rolled the sails up as not to attract any unwanted attention. Then he heard a harsh "Bye." And saw Marie jump off of the ship and onto land. He waited until she was out of sight to jump off himself. He headed toward the nearest tavern and went inside and started to look around for worthy pirates. He was out of luck within the first half hour and feeling very much like this would take a lot longer than he would have expected. That was until he saw one man defending his own skin with some of the best swords work that Jack had ever seen, beside himself of course, and probably Marie.

"Well done! Come and have a drink with me." He didn't offer to buy him one because his drink hadn't smashed to the floor like Marie's had. "How would you like to be a pirate, Mr.…um?"

"Jackson. And why not?" The man by the name of Jackson had sipped his drink and let out a satisfied hiss. "So, what kind of ship do you have?"

"Ah. I'll show you that, because this ship is a ship that you've heard of but never seen. Which makes it a mythical ship, but as I am about to show you a mythical ship, then that makes this mythical ship a very realistic ship. Therefore taking out all possibilities of a myth."

The man only grunted and followed Jack outside and as Jack was about to turn toward Port, he heard the most familiar and unpleasant sound. He looked down at his wrists and saw shackles.


	8. Chapter 8

Her lungs were burning until she let out a cough and felt water flow up her trachea and out of her mouth

Both wrists were now in cuffs and the man just put on a small smile. "Oh look." The man shook down Jack's sleeve to reveal his tattoo and his small pirate brand. It was a simple red P and it was something to be proud of and something to hate. The joy of being a pirate could come along at a price; because once you are branded there are many possibilities of the wrong person seeing your arm. His tattoo was of a sunset over an ocean, and in front of this small scene there was a sparrow.

"Me and my colleagues figured we'd find a few pirates in the tavern that were looking for a crew, but we never expected to find the famous Jack Sparrow." Jack knew it now. The sword fight was a complete act; it was just to lure pirates to the bait. Someone else had stepped in front of Jack and he looked up to see who it was. The man was quite short and was wearing an elaborate wig that surrounded his entire head in curls. It gave him the look of a head that was too large to sit on his shoulders properly, and yet there it was.

"Lord Beckett! I see by your beautiful head of hair that you have been made governor. And I must say that that wig just looks absolutely smashing on you." Jack's attitude was not going to be swayed by any means. It didn't seem to faze Beckett though.

"Mr. Sparrow, I've heard so many so stories, about your bravery and adventure. Tell me, Jack," The disgust of being called his first name was not shown through Jack's smile at all. "Was it worth dying for?"

"I don't think that it was. I think that you should let me go and I'll go do something that would be. How does that sound?" He grinned his smile even more, until he was forcefully shoved in the back.

Jack's body was being led to a place that he had been before and only got out by making a deal with a man named Will Turner, for some reason he didn't feel like he was going to be so lucky this time. Down the stairs he came to a familiar cell, only there was one change. The bars on the walls were much different. "New bars I see." Jack knew why too. He was helped out of this very cage by the blacksmith that built them. He simply lifted the door off of its hinges with the proper leverage and they popped free.

"Oh, yes." Beckett grinned. "There will be no running away this time. And now, " He turned toward the phony pirate, "back to the hunt."

The hunt? Was that what they were calling it? Jack swirled his finger in the dirt for a half hour and then thought of something. He pulled out his compass and saw it going wildly insane. He left it next to him on the floor and stared at it. It would point to something eventually. Fifteen minutes went by and then half an hour and before he knew it two hours had been spent staring at the little magnetic needle. But he wouldn't stop checking back at it, his compass was his last hope. Jack looked back at the compass once again and noticed that its spinning had become slower. He jumped up and stared at it, getting slower and slower to the point where he was sure it was going to stop in the next minute. And it did. It landed on the stairs, and it was only then that Jack noticed the sound of muffled yelling coming from overhead. He waited in anticipation for someone to come down the stairs, but when he saw whom it was he was more distraught.

"Put me down! Wait until I get these cuffs off, and I'll rip out your throat. Put me down!" Two big men were holding Marie and her feet would have been dangling from the ground if she hadn't been trying to kick the men off. "Get off of me!" Her hair was in front of her face and the shoulder of one of her sleeves was ripped and there were a few scratches. However, the men didn't seem to care and neither did she. Marie struggled to get free but Jack saw the hands of the guards tighten around her arms.

Beckett was now in front of her smiling his evil smile into her face. "Now Miss Davis, I hope that you understand the rules that we have of being a pirate. There are only two and the first one is that you will be caught. The second," Beckett leaned in closer, but Jack could still hear it. "You will be killed." He backed up and said, "Enjoy your stay, Miss Davis."


	9. Chapter 9

Her lungs were burning until she let out a cough and felt water flow up her trachea and out of her mouth

Her face was menacing and she attempted to bite him, but he just gave a quick nod to the guards and she was thrown into the cell next to Jack's. Her body hit the floor and when Jack was sure that everyone was gone he rushed over to the wall of bars that separated them.

"Marie?"

She had heard it and it made her spine tingle. Something in her mind was telling her to still be mad, but she also wanted to see his face. She wanted to run through the bars and hug him, but she didn't know if he still wanted to see her. He did plan to kick her off of the ship, until she overheard his plan. Marie tried to lift her body off of the ground, and she did, but there was so much pain from being thrown, it took her a few minutes. She sat up on the ground and turned to face the neighboring cell.

"Jack?" He looked disheveled and messy, but she knew it was nothing compared to how she must look. At her voice his mouth went from a sad worrying frown to a relieved smile. Marie had to think for a moment and she couldn't think of once that she'd seen him smile like that, and she knew that it was for her. His eyes sparkled and she saw that flash of blue-green stuck in among the chocolaty brown. She knew it was there, she just had to see it for herself.

Marie smiled and laughed. "Why is it not surprising that we are looking at each other from behind bars." Her laughter echoed through the bars and off of the stonewalls that imprisoned them. Jack's laughter joined and they laughed to relieve all of their pain and to forget about the hurtful words they had said to one another. The walls seemed to vibrate and give off a feeling of happiness amidst the grim situation. It almost made Marie forget what had started the entire departure. _Almost_. But for the time being they would enjoy their short time together.

"So how did you get caught?" Marie asked.

"Well, I was in the tavern picking out a new crew member and saw one man with decent sword skills. And-"

"And then he slapped the handcuffs on you." Marie finished for him. "I had been doing the same thing, but I was just looking for a another pirate to talk to."

"Oh really?" Jack looked at her and said, "Tell me, Marie. What were you looking for a pirate for again?"

"To talk to."

"But even before you knew that that pirate was a guard for Beckett you only picked him because he was a pirate. You knew that he wouldn't be great to talk to." Jack looked at Marie with eyes that she couldn't read. "And the only reason why you were looking for a pirate to talk to was because you didn't have me."

Marie jumped to her feet, "Absurd! I hope that you're kidding." She knew that she had perked Jack's interest by her too-quick response. She could play his game too. "What makes you think that?"

"Oh I have a knack for this type of thing, love." His smirk was playing across his face, like a child being given an oversized present to unwrap.

"But then you went to the tavern to find another crewmember." Marie stepped up to the bars. She looked into his eyes and said, "You were looking for a crewmember that could fight, and take care of you in a way that nobody else can. A person that would make you shiver with the slightest touch." Her face was three inches from his now. "But when you found said pirate, you knew that you wouldn't find that _perfect_ mixture. And the only reason why you were searching for a crewmember was because you didn't have me." Marie trailed her fingers up his arm, and was delighted to see him shudder.

Her hand paused on his elbow and he looked down into her eyes and whispered, "But I have you now."

Marie let out a small gasp, and Jack stuck his hands through the bars and wrapped his forearms around hers. He looked down at her and waiting for her to struggle but she didn't even budge. Her eyes turned from a witty fire to a deep longing. Jack leaned in and their lips touched. Immediately, Jack wanted nothing more than for those bars to have vanished on the spot. She tasted like nothing that he had ever tasted before. It was as if everything that he ever loved had become a flavor. He broke apart and said the one thing that came to his mind. "At Tortuga the rooms were free." Then he plunged back into the kiss again.

Marie smiled through the kiss and let out a small chuckle. She had had a funny feeling before that he had purposefully put them in the same room. But she didn't care now. All she cared about was the feeling of his lips on hers. He tasted like the salt of the ocean's depths; it was wonderful. She started to make the kiss a little more forceful and Jack took that as permission. He deepened the kiss and put one of his hands through the bars and onto Marie's waist. How was she able to resist him this entire time? It seemed an impossible feat.

Jack broke away first, but still left his hand on her waist and their arms were still holding onto each other. She let go of his arm and he let his hand slide off of her waist. Marie looked at the bars that kept her away from him and Jack saw her eyes widen in delight. "I have a plan."


	10. Chapter 10

Her lungs were burning until she let out a cough and felt water flow up her trachea and out of her mouth

They had gone over the plan three times before they had fallen asleep with their fingers lightly touching.

"Oh how cute. A pirate couple, at least they'll die together." Marie and Jack were awakened by the taunting sound of a guard's laughter.

"C'mon! Rise and shine." Said another guard. Like planned, Jack and Marie woke up acting tired, and as if they had given up hope. Jack got up with a slouch and walked very gloomily to the guard with open handcuffs. The guard put them on and waited for the other to get Marie. She left her butt on the floor and raised her hands in an act of submission. After the cuffs were on she brought her hands down and slipped her unused dagger into her hand and kept it easily out of view. She got up, walked out and stood next to the bench where all of her weapons were, except the dagger on her calf, which was overlooked because of its unusual hiding place. Because of their passive attitude, the guards didn't even bother holding on to them while they were directed up the stairs. Once they were in the middle of the staircase Marie spun around and drove the dagger into the man's chest, and Jack used his handcuffs to choke his guard.

After the two buffoons were down Jack grabbed the key ring off of the man's belt, and unlocked the cuffs. Marie tossed his hat and belt to him, and put on her weapons as well. They ran up the stairs with guns in their hands and swords at their sides. They ran out onto the streets and got to _The Black Pearl_, which seemed to be absolutely untouched. They got onto the ship and Marie felt uneasy, something wasn't right. Why hadn't they stolen it or sunk it or…something. Beckett would have been delighted in watching _The Pearl_ destroyed. "Wait to move the ship, Jack. Something's wrong." She kept her gun out and she quietly crept into the ship.

The kitchen was empty and she went into the storage area of the ship. She kicked every sack and barrel until she reached the end of the room. She was so sure that there was someone down here. When a hand went to her mouth and a gun barrel went to her temple she knew that she was right.

"Now, here's what's going to happen." Beckett's breath was right on her ear. "I'm going to bring you out on deck and we are going to alert dear old Jack of my…presence. And then," his voice became a growling whisper, "He's going to watch me kill you." Marie tried to kick him, but failed. "Unless you'd like to watch me kill him." She whimpered beneath his hand. "I thought not. Now do what I say." Marie was steered out of the storage, where she found the Jack's bandages: into the kitchen, where Marie made meals for the two of them. Out on the deck Jack was standing there with the wind forcing his hair to flap in the wind and his skin glowed against the warmth of the sun. The moustache that had just so recently tickled her upper lip seemed more unique and precious. Marie never really noticed how attractive he was until now, when a gun was pointed to the side of her head.

Beckett cleared his throat loudly and said, "Oh, Jack, I have something of yours." Jack turned around with the look of shear horror on his face. Marie felt horrible for being so stupidly helpless, and hated being the damsel in distress. Jack took a step forward, and Marie heard the sound of the hammer of a gun being cocked back. "Ah, ah, ah. One more step and she'll die." _Wasn't he going to kill me anyway? What the bloody hell is he up to?_

Jack stopped in his tracks and I waited for Beckett to explain himself. "Ah, does this little piece mean a lot to you? Then pay attention! In your coat pocket lies something that can give me control of the entire ocean. The compass. If you hand me that then you can have her back unharmed." Beckett smiled.

Little did Marie know that Jack's mind was working at top speed right now. "In all reality though, Beckett, that would still leave me at a loss. If I give you this compass," He was now turning over the little box in his hands, "and you do get control over the entire ocean, then Marie and I will die anyway. You will have the power to find us wherever we are, when ever you want, and we face the gallows. But, if I don't give this to you, you'll shoot her and either shoot me or hang me."

Beckett let out a sarcastic laugh. "You're not as dumb as you look, but of course that would make it remarkable for you to even walk, Jack."

"And I have to decide which way I want to die." Jack looked right into Marie's blue-green eyes, and he stared at her as if to say, "Do you trust me?" Marie gave him a small nod, so that Beckett wouldn't notice.

"This is a hard decision, because you know what?" Jack's hands had stopped turning the compass, and there was a short but dramatic hiatus in the conversation, "I don't want to die." Jack threw the compass straight at Beckett, and Beckett, worrying more about the compass than his own life, dropped his gun and used both hands to catch the little black box.

Marie was free, but she was going to get revenge on the short man standing next to her. She grabbed the fallen pistol and pointed it back at its owner. Beckett's eyes had grown large and he was definitely perturbed by a woman pointing his own gun at his chest. His grip on the compass even loosened a little. "Drop the compass, Beckett!"

"And you'll leave me unharmed." Beckett lazily tried to finish Marie's sentence.

"I didn't say that now, did I? If you don't give me the compass, then I'll shoot you and pry it from your dead fingers. I'll just make the death more meaningful, for lack of a better word." She felt a triumphant grin spread across her face. This felt great. "What do you think, Jack? How should we kill him if he doesn't give it back?"

Jack chuckled, "Oh, there's too many choices! We could cut off his legs and let him bleed to death, or better yet, we could drown him."

Beckett jumped a little and that just made Marie laugh more. "What's this? Have we actually put fear into the famous Governor Beckett? Oh, this is rich! So are you going to give it up?" Beckett looked questionable, he seemed to be deciding. "Hand it over!" Marie saw a sword tip go to the side of Beckett's hip and saw Jack on the other side of the sword.

"I do favor my idea of letting him bleed to death." Jack said.

"Oh, all right!" Beckett's voice quivered. "Here!" He slapped the compass into Marie's open hand.

Marie took a split second to look into Beckett's frightened eyes, and pulled the trigger on his pistol. He fell to the ground with a lifeless thump and Marie hauled his small frame and threw it into the sea. She turned around to see Jack staring at her with wide eyes. "God, you're brilliant!"

"So are you. Tell me Jack, why did you risk giving Beckett the compass to save my life?" Marie looked at him in wonder.

"Because, love, when the two compasses meet each other, they finally begin to work normally. That man would have been crashing into the glaciers if he followed where it pointed." Jack said.

Marie walked close to him and looked up into his face. "Why do I feel that there's another reason?" She smiled at him waiting for his answer.

Jack smiled back, "Well, the other reason is complicated, love. I believe that it goes a little something like this." Jack crashed his lips onto Marie's and he explained his reason better than words ever could have. The only thing on his mind was her, and only her. The feel of her lips was the most incredible feeling ever.

He begged for entry, and she didn't even hesitate. Her lips parted and she let his tongue explore her mouth. Marie mimicked his actions into his mouth, and then slowly backed away.

"Let's get out to sea. The sun's going to set soon and I don't want to be anywhere near this god forsaken town when it does."

Jack let out a falsely dramatic gasp. "Are you saying that you are actually going to stay on the ship with me, that you actually want to be a pirate on _The Black Pearl_ with me as your captain?" Marie grinned, "Are you saying that you are staying because of me?"

"I could be saying that. Yeah." Marie grinned at him and then opened up the pitch-black sails. They both stood on _The Black Pearl_ as pirates, but together they stood as soul mates drawn together by a common desire for the same vast, blue freedom.


End file.
